Aircooled VW South Africa

Yes, Andreno is a great place to visit and Arno and Andre really know their stuff.

But I'm concerned you're still going for the 1835. Arno built me a conterweighted 1835 engine a few years ago, even though I had asked for 1776. It ran very well for a few years, during which I only ever drove it gently. Then one day en route to Cape Town, I got a rush of blood to the head and tried to chase down a Kombi I saw on the N1 as I was leaving Matjiesfontein. I never caught up with that bus, and after some distance of driving at 70mph, the cylinder walls warped and started a compression leak at the head. After that I rebuilt that engine to 1776 spec. IIRC, cylinder wall on an 1835 is 2mm thick; simply not enough meat for a heavy bus.

The only options he gave was 1600, 1835 or 2 L.. priced accordingly.
I went for what I could afford. Thats what he imports, and he says there are no issues with warping etc..
I must say I believe in his capabilities and he really knows his stuff.. I'm sure my bus will be fine.

Alan

On the Volksplane I had the engine was a 1834 (I think and not 1835) and the only issue was the studs pulling out of the casing after it was cut out to fit the bigger sleeves.
I remember also I could not find rings alone and had to buy the whole big bore kid when I wanted to put new rings after rebuilding the plane.

Hi Alan

I agree with the concerns raised by Tony Z and Fig when choosing the 1835 mill for your bus. The 1835 kit "usually" has 92mm thin wall cylinders. What Tony and Fig said about cylinder deformation and blow by, is most likely to happen with the 1835 kit, and this is why...

Here is a useful list of cylinder wall thicknesses, that I found somewhere on the Internet.

4.55mm = 92mm thick wall
4.5mm = 88mm machine-in
4.14mm = 85.5mm
3.76mm = 90.5mm
3.57mm = 94mm
3mm = 92mm thin wall (used in 1835 kit)

As you will note, the 92mm "thin wall" has the thinnest wall of all popular aircooled VW cylinder sizes, hence the warnings. These are the most likely to suffer an early death, especially in a heavy bus, that tends to work harder and run hotter.

Earlier in the post, I used the word "usually", as 1835 kits historically had the thin wall cylinders. AA Performance Products recently developed the thick wall 92mm cylinder (at the top of the above list) I believe in response to the problems identified with the thin wall 92mm cylinders. I read good things about these cylinders, and will consider them for a next project, due to their maximum wall thickness and stability. I don't have experience with AA brand pistons though, so can't vouch for the quality compared to the usual Mahle forged piston.

It may well be that your builder found a set of the thick wall 92mm cylinders, which would then make the 1835 an excellent choice for your bus. I would just question him a little, and make an informed decision. You want to give the engine the best chance at survival, not erode margins to the maximum.

As Tony Z said, Google is you friend... GOOD LUCK with the research!

Riaan

I was told in no uncertain terms to trust his judgement.. Collecting Winston tomorrow, so time will tell, but considering how often I will use him, I don't expect problems. But thanks for your comments.

OK, it's already done then... Many happy miles. Just keep your right foot out of it, then you'll hopefully be fine.

I agree with everybody Alan.... 1835 is or was not the way to go for reliability.

This has nothing to do with the person building the motor, but more with the reliablity of that set up.
Like Fig said, I would too go for the 90.5mm - 1776 setup, as this along with the 2320cc setup, offers the best bang for your buck.

All the best, and I really hope the 1835cc engine proves us all wrong.

Regards
Muds

Had a nice meeting with Arno today when I went up to collect Winston, and he explained the story with the thin vs thick barrels. I won't repeat the other things he said about all the "opinions" here, but let say this, I am very pleased with the end result.

Anyhow. This motor is all balanced and looks the business, with a guarantee it's solid up to 7 500 rpm. My drive home up and over Franchoek Pass was pretty awesome I must say, and the ability to cruise up the hills coming past Bellville in 4th at 110 was nice I must say.

So, I'll end this here by saying thanks to John Alves, Jolas, Herman and Sean for pointing me in the direction of Arno at Andreno, must be the best Money I've spent on him besides the Paintjob.

Thats me done for now. Thanks for the help here and there, and hope you guys have a great December, if you're driving, travel safe people.

regards

Alan

acpaterson wrote:................., I am very pleased with the end result.
.........Alan

This is the most important part of this thread,.....

Enjoy, and may every mile bring a hand full of smile.

Herman

happy travels! Glad you got a result you are happy with

Glad you're happy with the result Alan. Enjoy!